Israeli lawmaker Oren Hazan insults Palestinians on their way to visit relatives who are detainees in Israeli prisons. (Photo: Twitter)

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An Israeli lawmaker was criticized today after he boarded a bus full of Palestinians traveling from Gaza to visit relatives who are detainees in Israeli prisons, and called them “dogs” and “terrorists” in a video he posted of the encounter to social media. In adjoining tweets, Oren Hazan from the ruling Likud party explained he staged yesterdays’ scene in an effort to pressure Hamas’ leadership to return the Israelis held in captive Gaza.

“No, it’s not a question of family visits-this is a reality that must stop, and that’s why I came to confront the beasts,” Hazan wrote yesterday. He further said the Palestinian passengers were “human scum.”

Hamas is believed to be holding two Israeli citizens inside of Gaza as well as the remains of two Israeli soldiers killed during the 2014 war.

In a broadcast of event, Hazan is seen entering the bus as it neared Nafha prison in southern Israel. He was accompanied by a television crew from Israel’s Yediot Ahronot. Footage from the outlet shows Hazan taunting the Palestinians, “We will erase the ugly smiles from your face,” he said. Outside, about a dozen others stood by, some hoisting Israeli flags. Not pictured, are uniformed Israeli police who are responsible for providing security to the buses and controlling the entry and exit of passengers once inside of Israel.

Today a Hamas official lashed out at the Hazan, citing how the Israeli officials berated an elderly Palestinian woman in the vehicle.

“Have the courage to deal with this issue in the right place and resolve the issue courageously instead of pretending to be strong against women,” said Hamas spokesperson Abu Obeidah in a statement. “You put your soldiers into a battle in Gaza and left them to the unknown. Instead of confronting the truth and behaving with honor and manhood, you’ve chosen the path of cowardice to give up your responsibilities and run away from paying the price,” he continued.

Spokesperson for the PLO, Xavier Abu Eid, called Hazan “shameful” on social media this afternoon and criticized him for “threatening defenseless relatives of Palestinian prisoners.”

Hasbarists go from defending the detention Palestinian children in the middle of the night #AhedTamimi, to “understanding” the coward/shameful Oren Hazan threatening defenseless relatives of Palestinian prisoners.
Yes, the occupation is well normalized among Israelis.

A spokesperson for the International Committee for the Red Cross (ICRC), the body tasked with coordinating prisoner family visits for relatives from the occupied Palestinian territory, condemned Hazan’s actions.

“For us it is a very serious incident, we are very concerned about it,” ICRC spokesperson Alyona Synenko told Mondoweiss. “As a humanitarian organization we coordinate the transfer of Palestinians to be able to visit detained Palestinians. There were children and the elderly on the bus, the way that they were insulted and aggressed is something that is very worrisome,” she continued.

The ICRC has facilitated family visitation for Palestinian detainees since 1968, with 7,479 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons receiving almost 40,000 family visit in 2017.

Footage of Oren Hazan managing a casino in Bulgaria where he also worked as a pimp and snorted hard drugs. (Photo: still from Channel 2)

Hazan is no stranger to controversial entanglements, some involving crass language that have escalated to the courts. He was indicted with assault at the start of this month for a 2014 incident where he allegedly abused and cured the mayor of Ariel, a West Bank settlement where he currently lives. Last month a complaint was filed against Hazan for telling a female colleague in the middle of a meeting that she is too ugly to be a prostitute.

Earlier this year Hazan was again in hot water after he rushed President Donald Trump on the tarmac during his visit to Israel, snapping a selfie moments after Israeli Prime Minister shoved him in the opposite direction. He was also suspended from the Knesset twice in 2016, in part for ethics violations.

Before Hazan became an Israeli politician he worked as a manager of a casino in Bulgaria where he moonlighted as a pimp and used crystal meth. His checkered past was reported in an expose by Israel’s Channel 2, an outlet Hazan attempted to sue for libel. In 2016 Hazan lost the case after it was “proven beyond a shadow of a doubt” that Hazan both hired prostitutes for casino patrons and partook in hard drugs, said the ruling for the case, as reported by Haaretz.

This post has been updated at 5 p.m. to correct an error regarding Oren Hazan’s place of birth. Hazan was born in Israel in 1981 and raised in the West Bank settlement of Ariel. He resided in Bulgaria as an adult.

About Allison Deger

Allison Deger is the Assistant Editor of Mondoweiss.net. Follow her on twitter at @allissoncd.

There is no “scum part” of zionist supporters. Zionism is a racist ideology by definition, therefore is abominable filth. Therefore all zionists are scum by definition. And guy, a piece of pure trash, living in a stinking racist swamp, is a good example of the zionist scum.

Which might explain why they are so simpatico with the current resident of the white house. Remember when this uncooth, raggedy ass clown shoved his way into a selfie with tRUMP when he was here a while back (right before the infamous hand slap away by Melania)?

@Marnie: thanks for the link to that “hand slap” video, amazing how deep her disgust with the guy goes. Still, having a nice piece of ass to walk next to you has its price, even if that includes getting a hand slap.

He “used” crystal meth or still does? What a brave man, boarding a bus of bereaved relatives visiting their family members in israeli prisons. He was well-protected, so he could run his mouth like the gansta-wannabee he is. It would be interesting to see how he would fare without a coterie of armed to the teeth ziopolice or IOF. Former bouncer, pimp and meth user, now a born again zionist MK. Like all zionist scumbags, he is an abject coward.

This is all good! The more these creeps express their outsized racism openly the worse the Zionists appear in the eyes of the world. It really is just a matter of time before the rot of this despicable ideology finally cumbles completely and disappears.

It really is just a matter of time before the rot of this despicable ideology finally crumbles completely and disappears.

I wish I could share your optimism, but having watched “Cast Lead’ & “Protective Edge”, (to name but those two from a long and tragic list of cruel racist violence), come and go with muted criticism and no blow-back on Israel and its flagrant violation of the laws of war and basic human decency, I don’t think the discovery of this racist ass-hole will do much to deter the West’s unwavering support for the odious Zionist state.
It does confirm the moral degeneracy found at the heart of Zionism/Zionists, but our outrage will be insufficient to bring about any change.
I think BDS will be the most effective tool against this tragic corruption, coupled with constant harping on our pusillanimous politicians that we are watching and expect them to stand for justice and peace in Palestine.

Apart from the fact that war criminal Shalit had an entire, aggressive, genocidal government exerting collective punishment using the pretext of his being taken hostage, he was a regular uniformed murderer, taken hostage by the civilian resistance in a war of aggression. Not a protected person; on the contrary, free game! Of course the ICRC does something for these guys, too: did you properly inform yourself once in your life?

Echi,
“Not a protected person”
But he is a prisoner of war.
““Prisoners of war” are combatants who have fallen into the hands of the enemy, or specific non-combatants to whom the status of prisoner of war is granted by international humanitarian law.
The following categories of persons are prisoners of war:

members of the armed forces of a party to the conflict, including members of militias or volunteer corps forming part of such armed forces (this includes members of regular armed forces who profess allegiance to a government or authority not recognized by the Detaining Power);”https://casebook.icrc.org/glossary/prisoners-war

“In international armed conflicts, belligerent parties also have to allow representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross and Protecting Powers access to all places where prisoners of war or protected persons may be. The names of the representatives appointed must be approved by the detaining power. ”https://casebook.icrc.org/glossary/access

“did you properly inform yourself once in your life?”
These are some of my sources. Do you have a source to support your view?

Johnny 66 continues his courageous advocacy for Nazi-o-nist occupation. Sure, Palestinians must resist in the open air, with known addresses where you can knock on the door at visit times. No need for hiding, eh. I suppose he is also convinced he’s clever.

echi,
“did you properly inform yourself once in your life?”
So, you have no actual backup for your opinions just name calling and vitriol. Just labeling something as Nazi isn’t actually a reasoned response.
At least you could begin with, ‘IMHO, which no authority on Earth agrees with….’

Annie,
“you ask his opinion, now you want to know if it’s defined as a category? strange.”
I asked for further clarification because he used a term that doesn’t seem to be either standard or accepted in common usage. Using an original term makes it difficult to understand the laws which apply.

you ask for his “opinion” and when you didn’t like or didn’t know how to argue against, or were not satisfied with, his answer, you then asked for a “reference for this category” for his opinion. maybe he didn’t use a “term”. not all opinions are confined within terms.

so i repeat, you ask his opinion, now you want to know if it’s defined as a category? strange.

do you understand the meaning of the word “Institutionalized”? how about “settler”? now “terrorist”? it does not have to be a “term” or a “category”.

if i asked you Do have an opinion as to the status of that tiger and you said, ‘my opinion is it’s a lethal striped killing mammal’, if i responded “I can’t seem to find it defined as a category”? you’d probably think i was a nut. what are you trying to establish jon?

Annie,
The question I posed concerned the status of IDF soldiers.
Echi responded with “regular uniformed murderer, taken hostage by the civilian resistance in a war of aggression. Not a protected person”. I may not agree, but it’s a answer within the common terminology in this context.
Talk responded with “Institutionalized settler terrorists.”. So I can either presume he means something similar to Echi, that is not a recognized member of a military unit or I could ask for clarification.
Since Echi’s response is in variance with the recognized rules/laws of war, I didn’t want to presume Talk’s was as well.
When we are speaking of the categorization of people in the context of the laws of war, they do havre to fall within one of the accepted categories in order to determine legality of treatment.
By IHL, “All members of the armed forces of a party to the conflict are combatants, except medical and religious personnel.”https://ihl-databases.icrc.org/customary-ihl/eng/docs/v1_rul_rule3
I’m not trying to be annoying, but if I assume that Talk means that Shalit is not a POW that is different than if he does. Echi does not believe that he does, but I still don’t know if Talk agreees with me (a POW) or Echi (a murderer).

jon, sorry. i think i misunderstood your original question. you want talkback’s opinion as to the legal status of IDF soldiers adjacent to the Gaza border. try stating what you think the legal status of soldiers manning an illegal occupation are, and then ask him his opinion about that. is it even legal to declare war on illegally occupied people?

Jon66: “Do you have a reference for this category? I can’t seem to find it defined as a category?

Yes, I refer to Zionist settler colonialism and its institutionalized terrorists who created an Apartheid Junta in Palestine. Do you need to deny this reality?

Jon66: “I’m not trying to be annoying, .but if I assume that Talk means that Shalit is not a POW that is different than if he does.”

According to humanitarian law Shalit was a POW and should have been treated under the Geneva Conventions. But the Jewish Apartheid Junta holds that the Geneva Conventions are not applicable and has not even ratified the second amended protocol relating to the Protection of Victims of Non-International Armed Conflicts.

In bad faith the Junta distorts the Geneva Conventions which states:
“[1] … the present Convention shall apply to all cases of declared war or of any other armed conflict which may arise between two or more of the High Contracting Parties, even if the state of war is not recognized by one of them.

[2] The Convention shall also apply to all cases of partial or total occupation of the territory of a High Contracting Party, even if the said occupation meets with no armed resistance.”

The Junta ignores the first pargraph (a war between the two High Contracting Parties Israel and Jordan arose) to claim that according to [2] it is not applicable, because Palestine is (it wasn’t back then) not a high contracting party.

It was schooled by the International Court of Justice in its advisory opinion in 2004 that treaties should be interpreted in good faith and was refered to the first paragraph.

Don’t you think that it is quite silly to expect an Israeli soldier to be treated according to a convention which the Junta does not even accept to be applicable and which it violates on a daily basis especially when it comes to the abduction and treatment of imprisoned Palestinians, illegal settlements, an illegal blockade and the illegal collective punishment that comes with it?

Talk,
“Don’t you think that it is quite silly to expect an Israeli soldier to be treated according to a convention which the Junta does not even accept to be applicable …”
I don’t. Israel has allowed the ICRC to coordinate visits between Palestinian prisoners and families for decades.
There are now civilian Israelis apparently being held by Hamas who have no visitation rights or family communication. Hamas is also holding the body of two Israelis and two live civilians. As I have said before, I think the practice by both Israel and Hamas to hold bodies is despicable.

So you think that it is reasonable from the Jewish Apartheid Junta to expect everyone to respect the Geneva Conventions, except themselves?

jon66: “Israel has allowed the ICRC to coordinate visits between Palestinian prisoners and families for decades.”

There should be no need for the ICRC to coordinate anything. Israel is violating the IV. Geneva Conventions:
“ARTICLE 116

Every internee shall be allowed to receive visitors, especially near relatives, at regular intervals and as frequently as possible.”

Again: “Israel’s ruthless policy of holding Palestinian prisoners arrested in the Occupied Palestinian Territories in prisons inside Israel is a flagrant violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention. It is unlawful and cruel and the consequences for the imprisoned person and their loved ones, who are often deprived from seeing them for months, and at times for years on end, can be devastating,” said Magdalena Mughrabi, Deputy Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa at Amnesty International.

“Instead of unlawfully transferring prisoners outside the occupied territories, Israel must ensure all Palestinians arrested there are held in prisons and detention centres in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

jon66: “There are now civilian Israelis apparently being held by Hamas who have no visitation rights or family communication. Hamas is also holding the body of two Israelis and two live civilians. As I have said before, I think the practice by both Israel and Hamas to hold bodies is despicable.”

These are relative minor crimes compared to the overall crime of Jewish settler colonialism and what Jews have been doing to Nonjews since the late 30s. The word “descpicable” is not enough.

Child, Who Was Assaulted And Abducted By 23 Israeli Soldiers, Released
The Israeli Authorities released, on Wednesday at dawn, a Palestinian child, who was abducted and assaulted by 23 Israeli soldiers, earlier this month, and was instantly moved to a hospital for treatment.

The status of POW only applies in international armed conflict. Israel claims that there is not INTERNATIONAL conflict between them and the Palestinians and it is not willing to ratify the second additional protocol which deals with non international conflicts.

Are you suggesting (a) that the International Committee of the Red Cross is responsible for the conditions in which Gilad Shalit was held; (b) that a democratic state’s actions should be singled out for praise because they happen to be a bit more humane than those of a terrorist organisation; (c) that what happened to Shalit has any real relevance to the subject of this article – the racist ranting of an MK

You’re going to have to employ a lot more intellectual rigour than you use here to make your case.

Well, Jon66. I am glad that we agree that the Jewish Apartheid Junta in Palestine had been a terrorist seperatist organisation since the late 1930s. And that Hamas is only a national liberation organisation which commits war crimes when it attacks densely populated areas without being able to differentiate between civilians and combattants as much as your beloved terror organisation does. But that’s only the tip of the icebergs of JAJP’s systematic and widespread crimes against humanity.

we agree that Hamas is a terrorist organization and that Israel is a democratic state

without ever having answered or even discussed the post, further above, that clearly establishes that
1. The Zionist entity is a terrorist organization according to the very rules of even the colonial powers that “gave” it its existence

2. All individuals and organizations who are resisting the colonial invasion and occupation, especially where illegal even by the explicit declaration of all the imperialist powers that illegally granted the Zionist entity a recognition of their initial barbarian conquest, are doing so with the express authorization of international law, several times reaffirmed in US resolutions.

Add: There can be no officially slave-holding “democracy” nowadays; the time of ancient Athens and dark-ages US are long past.

Add: John 66 is a despicable propaganda agent. Looking up the words “Julius Streicher” is recommended.

John,
Are you saying that your references in your response where you mention Shalit are actually references to the British Army? You did not mean it in reference to Israel and Hamas although the rest of your response was in reference to Israel and Hamas?

jon s: The bus was part of an ICRC program for families to visit prisoners. Israel allows these visits.”

It allows them only if these visits are part of an ICRC program?

“Israel’s ruthless policy of holding Palestinian prisoners arrested in the Occupied Palestinian Territories in prisons inside Israel is a flagrant violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention. It is unlawful and cruel and the consequences for the imprisoned person and their loved ones, who are often deprived from seeing them for months, and at times for years on end, can be devastating,” said Magdalena Mughrabi, Deputy Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa at Amnesty International.

So let me get this straight. He was there not to call the passengers “beasts” and ” human scum” but to protest the Hamas policy of not allowing these visits but having boarded the bus he thought what the hell might as well take the opportunity to call them”beasts” and “human scum”.???

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